Resellers, thrifters and profit-makers…

I learned a new word recently, while looking around Facebook for new stock and wholesaler opportunities. It was the word ‘thrifters’. The Urban Dictionary definition is a person who only shops at second-hand or clearance-style stores looking for great deals. These people never pay full price for anything and love the idea that they are getting a bargain, while also saving the world from having to find a space for one more ‘new’ thing.

Thrifters and resellers are perfect partners and their relationship should be one that generates win-win profits all round. Resellers are on the lookout for the very things the thrifters want to buy. To do their job well, all they need to do is a be a good listener to their market and pay close attention to the things that their customers are buying. Then they can go to their suppliers (suppliers of end-of-line, clearance or quality graded stock) and source as much of that product, at as a keen a price as they can find, and present it to the thrifter (and wider consumer) community.

Profits and prophets

The win-win scenario happens because everyone ends up in profit. The thrifters (full-time, part-time and once in a blue moon’ers) win by achieving their goals. They get a below High Street price for a quality item, often to the degree that they simply could not have done better anywhere else. They also (whether consciously or not) will often have purchased something that would otherwise have been sitting in a warehouse somewhere going more and more out of fashion while its manufacturers were proactively promoting the product that had replaced it. By not pandering to the obsession with the ‘next latest thing’, the thrifter will have broken the chain of consumerism. So they are very happy because they have profited in heart and pocket to equal degree.

Meanwhile, the reseller is in profit because they purchased the stock, in bulk, at such a low price that they could offer it on at such a bargain in the first place. For them, the transaction was primarily financial, but often they too get caught up in the excitement of ‘doing the deal’ and being able to offer such a great deal to their customers. They understand that commercial decisions are always best supported by customer satisfaction and fairness ones.

As far as the prophet part of the sub-heading above is concerned, the value amplifies exponentially when a little bit of clairvoyance or good fortune is involved. Because reseller and thrifter success is all about creating transactions that achieve results for both sides of the equation, a calculated gamble can often bring about the best results.

Sometimes you just have to take a punt and see if a new line is going to fly. In our experience, most products will sell eventually anyway – but every now and then you’ll get in at the beginning of a serious winner and the result will send you flying onto the next one in style.

Are you a reseller or a thrifter?

Whether you like buying high quality goods for yourself or to sell on, there will always be something of value to you at Haddon & James. What bargains will you find in our online auctions today?

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